MLB News

Phillies Minor League review for May 15-21

Philadelphia Phillies

Players of the Week

Player - 2B Scott Kingery, Reading… Kingery, 23, batted .300 (9-30) with a double, five home runs, six RBI, a walk, a stolen base, nine runs and a 1.117 OPS in six games. He has homered seven times in his last eight games, hitting two home runs on both May 19 and May 21. Kingery's 14 home runs are the most by any player in the minor leagues this season. In addition to leading the Eastern League in home runs, Kingery also ranks first in slugging percentage (.665), extra-base hits (26), total bases (103) and runs (41, the next closest has 29) and is tied for first with four triples. The Phoenix, Ariz. native, who was also named Eastern League Player of the Week, was selected by the Phillies in the second round of the June 2015 draft.

Players of the Week

Player - 2B Scott Kingery, Reading… Kingery, 23, batted .300 (9-30) with a double, five home runs, six RBI, a walk, a stolen base, nine runs and a 1.117 OPS in six games. He has homered seven times in his last eight games, hitting two home runs on both May 19 and May 21. Kingery's 14 home runs are the most by any player in the minor leagues this season. In addition to leading the Eastern League in home runs, Kingery also ranks first in slugging percentage (.665), extra-base hits (26), total bases (103) and runs (41, the next closest has 29) and is tied for first with four triples. The Phoenix, Ariz. native, who was also named Eastern League Player of the Week, was selected by the Phillies in the second round of the June 2015 draft.

Pitcher - RHP Trevor Bettencourt, Lakewood… The 22-year-old Bettencourt appeared in three games in relief for the BlueClaws, converting his only save opportunity while striking out nine batters in 6.2 scoreless innings. He allowed only three hits, and did not allow a baserunner in either of his final two appearances of the week (4.1 IP). Bettencourt is currently riding a 14.1-inning scoreless streak, tossing nine straight scoreless outings after allowing two runs in his first 0.2 innings this season. He is 2-0 with four saves, a 0.60 ERA (1 ER, 15.0 IP) and 23 strikeouts to just one walk in 2017. Bettencourt was selected by the Phillies in the 25th round of the June 2016 draft.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs - International League North Division…29-14, 1st place… The IronPigs began the week by extending their winning streak to a franchise-best 12 consecutive games. They won six of their seven contests last week, and have won 17 of 20 games in May as they hold the best record in the International League.

Top hitting performers - SS J.P. Crawford batted .357 (10-28) with a double, home run, six RBI, six walks, a .471 on-base percentage and three multi-hit games. He went 3-for-5 with four RBI on May 17… OF Roman Quinndoubled, tripled, homered, drove in two runs, drew five walks and batted .296 (8-27) in seven games… 1B Rhys Hoskins, who hit three more home runs and drove in eight runs, is now leading the league in RBI (36) and is tied for the lead in homers (12)… OF Nick Williams also homered three times, driving in four runs in his seven games played.

Top pitching performers - RHP Ben Lively did not walk a batter and struck out 14 in 12.0 innings over two starts last week. He struck out a season-high nine batters on May 21… RHP Jake Thompson allowed two runs (1 ER) in 5.0 innings of work in his lone start of the week… RHP Tom Eshelman tossed 8.0 innings, surrendering three runs (2 ER) and just one walk. He has a 0.78 ERA (2 ER, 23.0 IP) in three starts with Lehigh Valley, beginning his triple-A career with a 17.0-inning scoreless streak… RHP Pedro Beato (4 SV, 4.0 IP, 0 R), LHP Hoby Milner (3.1 IP, 0 R) and SHP Pat Venditte (SV, 5.1 IP, 1 ER) were all part of a relief corps that is 8-1 with 11 saves, and a 1.15 ERA (7 ER, 55.0 IP) over the last 16 games, which included a 19.1-inning scoreless streak.

Reading Fightin Phils - Eastern League Eastern Division…23-15, 2nd place… Reading swept a three-game series with Erie, outscoring them 28-9, before dropping two of three to New Hampshire to finish the week 4-2. The Fightins scored six or more runs in five of their six games.

Top hitting performers - 2B Scott Kingery was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week and Eastern League Player of the Week after clouting five home runs in six games. He batted .300 (9-30) with six RBI and a stolen base… SS Malquin Canelo was 9-for-28 (.321) with two doubles, two home runs, five RBI, two walks and two stolen bases… 1B Kyle Martin hit safely in all five of his games, batting .421 (8-19) with a pair of home runs, five RBI and three walks… OF Andrew Pullin reached base safely in all six of his games, drawing a walk in each of his last five games of the week. He batted .364 (8-22) with two doubles, a home run and a .464 on-base percentage.

Top pitching performers - In his first three relief appearances with Reading, LHP Austin Davis combined to toss 4.1 scoreless innings… RHP Miguel Nunez struck out five batters in 3.1 scoreless, hitless innings out of the bullpen… RHP Jesen Therrien threw 2.0 perfect innings in two games in relief.

Clearwater Threshers - Florida State League North Division…24-20, T-1st place… The Threshers dropped four straight to Fort Myers, but then rebounded to take three of four from Lakeland, including a doubleheader sweep on May 20. Clearwater will play four games at Florida and three at St. Lucie before returning home for the final two games of the month.

Top hitting performers - OF Zach Coppola had 10 hits in 23 at-bats (.435), including a season-high four-hit game on May 20. He drove in two runs and scored four more… SS Emmanuel Marrero had three multi-hit games, batting .529 (9-17) with two doubles, two walks and three runs scored… OF Jose Pujols was 7-for-23 (.304) with a double and three runs scored in six games.

Top pitching performers -RHP Jose Taveras made two starts, combining to strike out 15 batters in 12.2 innings. He set season highs in both strikeouts (11) and innings pitched (7.2) on May 21… RHP Harold Arauz tossed 7.1 innings and allowed one run while striking out 11 in his first two career games at the advanced-A level.

Lakewood BlueClaws - South Atlantic League Northern Division…24-19, 3rd place… Lakewood lost two of three games to Columbia before splitting a four-game set with Hagerstown. The BlueClaws' pitching staff leads the South Atlantic League with a 3.01 ERA.

Top hitting performers - OF Cord Sandberg had a team-high four extra-base hits (2 2B, 3B, HR) and drove in four runs while batting .304 (7-23)… INF Raul Rivas had three straight multi-hit games to begin the week, finishing with a .360 batting average (9-25) and three doubles in six games… CF Mickey Moniak doubled, tripled and recorded three multi-hit games while batting .280 (7-25).

Top pitching performers - RHP Trevor Bettencourt did not allow a run or walk and struck out nine in 6.2 innings out of the bullpen. He has a 14.1-inning scoreless streak, and was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week... RHP Will Hibbs extended his scoreless streak to 22.2 consecutive innings over 13 games to begin the season. He allowed two baserunners in 4.2 scoreless innings last week… LHP Nick Fanti made one start, allowing one run on four hits while striking out four in 5.0 innings of work.